Recently, Mankiw’s legal team received a case that, to be honest, was quite sad.
A boy who just entered his junior year was introduced to the "purchasing virtual currency" business when he was looking for a part-time job online. The process sounds simple: the other party transfers RMB to his bank account in the mainland, he takes the subway to Hong Kong, and then uses the money to buy currency at a USDT exchange store on the street and transfers it to a designated wallet address. A round trip, including travel allowance, can earn 500 to 600 yuan.
The other party also emphasized: "This is not illegal, virtual currency is legal in Hong Kong." The young man checked online and found that it was indeed the case. Even the official website of the Hong Kong government has a policy supporting the development of virtual assets. He felt more at ease and completed several orders in a row. He thought this part-time job was too good. But who knew that one day his bank card was suddenly frozen by the bank, and he realized that this matter was still illegal. He told the person who dispatched the order that he didn't dare to do it anymore, and the other party actually threw out the chat records and transfer screenshots, and threatened him, saying: "Don't you continue to cooperate? Then I will call the police and say that you are a member of a fraud gang."
You thought you were earning a living by running errands for others, but unexpectedly you became a lamb to be slaughtered by a criminal gang.
We have heard similar stories many times.
The number of such requests for assistance received by Mankiw Law Offices has increased significantly in the past six months, reflecting a trend that cannot be ignored: money laundering gangs are targeting college students and using high rewards to package a key link in the criminal chain.
Part-time job becomes "helper": stepping into the legal red line
Many students think that they just performed some simple operations, did not touch drugs, did not defraud users, how could it be a crime? But the reality is so cruel. In China's criminal law, there is a crime called "assisting information network criminal activities", which we call "assisting crime" in our industry.
As long as you know, or "should know" that what you are doing is to help others complete online fraud, money laundering, transfer of stolen money and other criminal acts, it may constitute a crime. The key word here is "should know", that is, even if you don't have solid evidence, as long as you should realize that "something is wrong" based on common sense, you may be held responsible for your actions.
Once you are involved in virtual currency transactions and cross-border capital flows, especially those funds of "unknown origin" transferred from your mainland account, and then converted into highly anonymous USDT and directly transferred to a strange wallet on the chain, this set of processes, in the eyes of the police, is a typical criminal path.
The more realistic consequences are: your bank card may be frozen, Alipay and WeChat payment may be restricted by risk control, or even listed as a person involved in online fraud, which will affect your ability to open a card, apply for a loan, or find a job in the future. Some students were asked to "return the stolen money" or "repay the price difference", or even detained to assist in the investigation, leaving a criminal record and even affecting their graduation.
“Legality does not mean no responsibility”: Legality in Hong Kong ≠ Legality in the Mainland
The reason why these criminal gangs are able to succeed time and again is that, on the one hand, the gray area of virtual currency itself is complex, and on the other hand, they will use seemingly reasonable reasons such as "legal in Hong Kong", "free trade" and "no legal issues" to paralyze you.
Yes, in Hong Kong, virtual assets are supported by regulation, exchanges can operate with licenses, and there is no law prohibiting the buying and selling of virtual currencies. But the question is, are your actions of collecting payments, handling funds, and operating on-chain wallets in the mainland compliant? Is the source of funds legitimate? These cannot be washed away by saying "I just bought for someone else."
More importantly, the mainland's legal attitude towards virtual currencies is very clear: they cannot be circulated as legal tender, and exchange and settlement services are prohibited. In other words, even if you go to Hong Kong and the path is a "legal exchange", but the source of funds is from the mainland and the transfer is completed in the mainland, the law that applies is still the mainland law.
Why college students? The logic of "precision delivery" of money laundering gangs
In many cases disclosed by the police, the "middlemen" who were exploited often had several common characteristics: young, no criminal record, "clean" bank cards, free time, and lack of money.
Especially some college students in their third and fourth years, who have free time, the ability to travel, and some Internet knowledge, may think they have grasped the trend of "new finance". Once these people are exposed to the sayings of "high-paying USDT purchase", "legal cross-border financial management", and "Hong Kong transaction arbitrage", they are easily tempted and even comfort themselves: I am just a middleman, and I am not really doing bad things.
But in the money laundering network, it is these "white gloves" and "messengers" that make the entire chain work. Your bank card helps him turn money from the black market into white; your legs help him move money that cannot be controlled by mainland regulators to Hong Kong. The other party can treat you as a consumable. Once something goes wrong, you are the first line of fire, and he will just pat his butt and replace you to continue the work.
Attorney Mankiw recommends
If you happen to see this article, you might want to check whether you have come across the following "part-time job opportunities" recently:
First, the other party proposes to transfer the money to your personal account and asks you to exchange currency or buy coins overseas;
Second, there was no formal contract during the entire process, the company name was vague, and the other party only communicated via WeChat or Telegram;
Third, after the task is completed, the other party pays the remuneration in USDT or cash instead of normal invoices and labor contracts.
If you encounter two of these three problems, you should be on the alert. This is not a freelance job, but a gray industry.
We understand that college students want to earn money, do internships, have some pocket money, and even hope to get in touch with new industries and explore new fields. But we must remind everyone that although the virtual currency industry is good, it is also very treacherous; many money laundering gangs are dressed in the cloak of innovation, but when they find you to "run errands", they have actually put you in the most dangerous position.
Through this article, we hope to remind more young people who are interested in Web3 that although the industry is good, they must stick to the right path.
You are welcome to forward this article to your college friends, which may help them avoid taking a detour.
